Shooting Jewelry

[Soppy]

I am being commissioned by a friend to photograph some jewelry she made. I will be paid for this work so I want the shots to come out very well. The primary use for the shots will be on the website that I will later be building her.

I am in need of tips on how best to photograph the jewelry, what backgrounds to use, what to do to ensure no obnoxious lens flare, etc. Pretty much, if you have shot jewelry before, please let me know how to do so. Thanks for the help!

 

[KvnO]

A light tent will be a good idea (either make one or buy one). That will provide soft, all-around light and avoid flare. Also, a light (or probably two) is needed. Again you can buy special lights or just use regular desk lamps (make sure they have the same bulbs though).

You can find easy do-it-yourself plans for this all over Google. You should find lots of ideas.

 

[twocolor]

I did a jewelry shoot about a year ago. I photographed about 150 rings for a catalog.

We got transperancy paper, a hot glue gun, and a soft box light tent thing. We glued the ring onto the tranparency paper in a vertical position. (Didn't want it in a 90 degree angle from the bottom of the soft box, sort of at an angle). We then placed this on top of the white bottom of the soft box. You do want some shadows on the bottom, to show depth, but not harsh shadows. Play around with your lighting placement until you get the look your going for.

Good luck!